Material gain: Material World: innovative structures and finishes for interiors - Reviews

Architectural Review, The, Sept, 2003 by Alan Brookes

MATERIAL WORLD: INNOVATIVE STRUCTURES AND FINISHES FOR INTERIORS.

Edited by Edwin van Onna. Basel: Birkhauser, 2003. [euro]60.75

This is not a book which would normally be reviewed in The Architectural Review. After all it is not much more than a shopping list of materials, not particularly well printed, and the graphics are rather difficult to read.

For all that, any modern architect interested in the innovative use of new materials once seeing it will surely want to buy it immediately. This publication is a more sophisticated version of a booklet by Els Zijlstra, Future Materials for Architecture and Design, sponsored by TU Delft.

It is a wonderful source book of available materials relevant to our age. For example, moving textiles that allow sleeves to automatically roll up and down, a jacket that opens and closes on its own, and a shirt that expands and contracts in both length and circumference. Or a honeycomb made of cardboard combined with coconut husks coated with a semi-transparent layer of coloured polyester to achieve strength, cheapness and lightness.

It comes as no real surprise to find the preface by Ed van Hinte whom you may remember as the joint author with Adrian Beukers of the cult book (for students) Lightness, published by 010 where van Hinte is on the editing staff. He refers to our continual search for materials that work by themselves and the desire to seek constructions that are lighter and more compact. This search for lightness is shown by the various examples in the book of smart textiles and materials capable of changing their physical state within a given temperature range from solid to liquid and vice versa, and materials with a high strength-to-weight ratio translucent honeycomb panels for example.

One of the problems of keeping such a book up to date is exposed by the author's comment that developments of super fibres are still at an early stage. Following Material World's publication, it was announced in the Financial Times that scientists have discovered the means of reproducing the filament spun by certain spiders by using the milk of genetically engineered goats.

The other potential weakness of the book is obviously it may be limited by the author's own knowledge of the availability of some materials or a failure to see their relevance. Thus Superform aluminium is not included, nor are products such as Artessi, Renelite or Oculux. So, although interesting, the catalogue of materials is not necessarily comprehensive.

This book now stays permanently in my room for students' reference but with my name firmly on the cover as I cannot afford to lose it.